Each case can be so different. A lot of quesions about making these decisions but hopefully you have a good team to guide you. I was very afraid of chemo and radiation, but my reports said not necessary = but if I’d done a lumpectomy, they probably would have added radiation. My other breast had some suspicious areas, plus each breast had had prior biopsies. At 73, I did not want to go all through everything on one side, only to have the other side have problems in a few years, so, after discussions with surgeons, everyone agreed that bilateral mastectomy would give me the best outcome. I agreed. Currently waiting for April
appt to discuss revision surgery. Did tissue expanders with July mastectomy, then the Dec. implants. Nothing fast about any of it, but giving our bodies time to heal is so very important. Maybe I won’t have to have any additional surgery. Maybe I will learn how X Y or Z would help. The healing of our minds is a huge factor in deciding and completing each possible procedure. Best wishes. Never be afraid to ask a million questions because there isn’t much that a good cancer team hasn’t heard before. They are there to help.

Thank you for your thoughtful response. I appreciate you sharing your experience. 💗

The million dollar question!
I agonized over this. I had to chemo first. My surgeon recommended lumpectomy, but told me to some research and to get a second opinion. Then she said she do whatever I wanted.
I really appreciated her honesty.
Wishing you well!

As breast cancer patients most of our options to treat our initial breast cancer diagnosis and to prevent a future cancer recurrence are not appealing. The first time I had breast cancer I was diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma in 3 of the 4 breast quadrants which meant I was not eligible for lumpectomy and had to have a mastectomy. Since my mother had died from breast cancer that was stage 4 when she was diagnosed, I opted to have the double mastectomy to be on the safe side and I had immediate reconstructive surgery. Lots of hormone positive women have reconstructive surgery performed at the same time they have a mastectomy. Plastic surgeons do say reconstruction surgery is easier to do and the patient has more options if it is done prior to having radiation because radiation can damage the elasticity of your skin making it harder to use implants during reconstruction since the skin doesn't stretch as easily to accomodate an implant. After my second bout with breast cancer I had the cancererous tumors and a bunch of lymph nodes removed along with reconstructive surgery. I had some post reconstuctive surgery issues and my implant had to be removed. I couldn't wait any longer to start chemo and radiation since my latest cancer is aggressive. The plastic surgeon told me if I wanted reconstruction later on that I would most likely have to have a flap surgery done in large part because that way the radiation damaged skin is replaced with undamaged skin from the flap surgery. My post radiation skin in the radiated area does still have some stretch and elasticity, but not as much as it did before radiation. I'm letting the skin recover until I'm one year post radiation and then I plan to look into reconstructive surgery with an implant if my skin does have enough stretch. Take some time to research all of your options with reconstructive surgery done both before and after radiation so you will have the knowledge needed to make the best decision for you personally. Good luck to you with whatever option you decide to pursue ❤️